


Jughead is Winter, But Archie Will Always Be His Summer

by tallisartin



Category: Archie Comics, Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, M/M, always angst my friends, and freezing, archie is a literal angel, i still like reggie, jughead being dark and brooding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-23
Updated: 2017-04-23
Packaged: 2018-10-22 23:29:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10707402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tallisartin/pseuds/tallisartin
Summary: It’s strange how the rain takes on a completely different personality as the seasons change. Rain in Summer means mud fights and the sizzle of water on hot pavement, Spring is the refreshing shiver of cool drops on skin and the smell of sweetness in the air. The rain’s personality gets darker when it comes to Fall; splatters so cold they almost burn, the feeling of soggy socks through puddles on the sidewalk.





	Jughead is Winter, But Archie Will Always Be His Summer

t’s strange how the rain takes on a completely different personality as the seasons change. Rain in Summer means mud fights and the sizzle of water on hot pavement, Spring is the refreshing shiver of cool drops on skin and the smell of sweetness in the air. The rain’s personality gets darker when it comes to Fall; splatters so cold they almost burn, the feeling of soggy socks through puddles on the sidewalk. 

But Winter is when rain feels the darkest. Winter means searing blades of icy bullets on already frosted skin. Winter means eyes that sting with ricocheted raindrops and lips that split under the pressure. Rain seldom shows itself in Winter, but when it does you feel it.

Jughead sat beneath the giant tree; nestled between two roots that had been there since he was a kid. His back was pressed flush against the bark and he could feel the grooves indenting on his skin. His hands were trembling and the clattering of his teeth echoed in his head.

Jughead knew that he would regret this in the morning. He knew he’d have a runny nose and a burning throat and dry, painful eyes. He was already greeting the symptoms as he sat and soaked up the cold, bitter rain. The boy didn’t necessarily like rain, and he wasn’t doing it to be poetic, he was waiting for what came next.

Earlier that day he’d made a comment at Reggie. It wasn’t the first time, and certainly wasn’t the worst, but the other boy lashed out like he’d never done before. Reggie had leapt on top of Jughead; smashing him to the ground. He hadn’t even paused as Jughead’s head collided with the locker room floor with a wet thunk.

At first Jughead panicked. He panicked as Reggie’s fist collided with his chin, and then his eye. He panicked until there was too much pain to think about it, and then he succumbed. Only, the punches didn’t continue. Through the blood dripping in his eyes he could still make out the other boy’s fist suspended above his face. Further down his wrist was a hand clutching it tightly.

Then he heard the voice.

“Reggie I swear to god if you hit him one more time!”

Jughead scrunched his eyes closed and tried to shake his head. He wanted to tell Archie to stop. ‘Don’t do it, Archie’ ‘It’s my own fault, Archie’ is what he would’ve said if his tongue wasn’t swollen in his mouth.

“Alright, Andrews. You’re the boss.” Reggie had sneered.

Then he turned and slammed his big, meaty fist right into the centre of Archie’s face.

See, Jughead didn’t like the rain, and he wasn’t sitting under a tree at 11pm in the Winter downpour to be poetic, he was doing it for what came text. The numbness. The exact feeling he felt after Reggie had hit him one to many times. The feeling of his body shutting down, his mind giving up, and his thoughts going to sleep.

“I don’t think ‘icicle’ really suits you.”

Jughead almost jumped out of his skin as he heard the voice. He spun around sharply and flicked his eyes up into the dark night. He could make out Archie’s silhouette, hidden from the dull moonlight by a big umbrella.

“What are you doing here?” He asked in disbelief.

“Your dad called my dad and asked him to make sure you did your homework at the sleepover we’re apparently having. I knew that if you lied to him, this is where you’d be.” Archie explained, crouching down next to Jughead.

The smaller boy sighed as the umbrella was carefully positioned over his head, shielding the sky’s attack. He shuffled over slightly so Archie could fit in beside him, between the two tree roots. Their shoulders were pressed together; the only warmth available.

Jughead cast his eyes up to Archie’s face. Even in the dim light he could see the angry bruising beneath Archie’s eyes and his swollen nose. He sighed a deep, painful sigh and pressed harder into the tree trunk.

“I didn’t want that to happen to you.” He meant it as an apology, but they had always been difficult for him.

“I didn’t want that to happen to you.” Archie countered, pointing a finger in the direction of Jughead’s face.

“You kinda scared me, man,” Archie continued, “it’s normal for you to annoy Reggie, but this time you just… kept going.” His voice sounded tired and strained.

Jughead didn’t know how to reply and for a moment they both sat in silence as the rain pattered down the umbrella, falling in little streams onto the ground.

“It’s almost like you wanted him to hit you.” Archie’s voice was barely a whisper this time.

Jughead’s face scrunched into a scowl. It was incredibly painful to do so, which made the expression that much more unappealing. He scowled because he knew it was true, partly, he knew he had egged Reggie on.

“Yeah well, you shouldn’t have intervened, but I’m sorry you got hurt.” Jughead’s voice was somewhere between a grumble and a mutter, and only slightly apologetic.

Archie didn’t reply, and Jughead could see him toying with the handle of the umbrella as he turned thoughts over in his mind. His thick brows knitted together as he stared at the plastic handle intently.

“This hurts less.” He murmured.   
Jughead learnt forward so he could see Archie’s face better. Archie pointedly avoided his gaze.

“What?”

Archie cleared his throat and looked up for a split second, “This hurts less,” he gestured to his face before staring down towards the ground again, “Then having to watch you get beaten to a pulp.”

Jughead noted how Archie’s face had gradually set into an expression of anger and frustration, and a little hurt. He bit his lip, then exhaled hard, then bit his lip again. Jughead was becoming uneasy.

“Yeah well, that’s dumb, Archie. I can look after myself.”

A split second later Archie turned to face Jughead; the anger and frustration and hurt piercing Jughead like a spear. “But you can’t Jughead! And you’re not! So I gotta do it, which is fine because I love you, but you gotta help me out a bit!” Archie shouted.

Jughead didn’t really listen, despite the harsh tone. He rewound the words in his head as his mouth hung open. “You what?”

Archie looked more frustrated then ever, “Huh?”

“You said you loved me.” Even as the words were still lingering in the air, Jughead felt embarrassed.

“No, Jughead,”

And Jughead’s heart sunk, his cheeks reddened.

“I said I love you. Present tense. And past tense, actually, and future tense. I’ve always loved you and I always will but you gotta let me in, pal.” Archie’s voice had broken somewhere along the way; becoming raw and cracked.

Jughead wasn’t sure if it was the icy wind or the pressure building inside of him, but tears welled in his eyes. His teeth chattered with both the cold and fear, and he searched Archie’s eyes for a hint of a lie. He found nothing.

“Okay,” He nodded, voice raspy and wavering.

“Okay, Archie I’m sorry. I – I…” And he tried, he tried so hard to say it back but the words became lost as his throat clenched.

Archie leant forward; so slowly that Jughead barely noticed the shift. The umbrella fell to the ground in front of them as both of Archie’s hands rose up to grip Jughead’s face gently. The rain fell hard on his body again but his skin was so flushed he couldn’t feel the cold. His heart thumped erratically in his chest as he let Archie tilt his face forward.

“Watch your nose,” Jughead breathed, concerned for Archie’s swollen face.

The ghost of a smile danced across Archie’s face before he pressed their lips together; so gently that Jughead didn’t feel it until warmth tingled through his mouth, into his stomach and right down to his toes. His lip stung where it had been split but he kissed back, too eagerly, and they both winced.

Jughead mentally kicked himself as Archie pulled away and he had to stop himself from begging Archie to close the distance again. The redhead smiled, though, and it was as if the rain stopped and the sun had come out. They were drenched, and freezing, and half-broken, but Jughead didn’t feel numb.

“I love you, too.” He whispered.

Archie grinned for a second then scooped up the umbrella with one hand and lifted Jughead from the ground with the other.

“Come on, I’ve got like six sets of your clothes at home and my sheets are clean for the first time in years.” Archie explained, slipping an arm around Jughead’s waist.

Jughead felt himself relax as he allowed himself to smile.

“Only you could make that offer sound appealing,” Jughead teased, and as an afterthought added: “And only you could use ‘I love you’ and ‘pal’ in the same sentence.”

Archie smirked and held Jughead a bit tighter. “Well it’s true, pal.” He joked.

Jughead rolled his eyes but the smile lingered on his face. He leant into Archie’s shoulder and let out a sigh as they walked. The Winter rain may have been cold and unforgiving, but Archie would always be a Summer shower to Jughead, and in that moment, Jughead was okay.


End file.
